Students invited to head south on civil rights bus tour
Considering an alternative spring break this year? Students are invited to join a rolling classroom community and head south with Dr. Anthony LoPresti, associate professor of religious and theological studies, and Dr. Timothy Neary, associate professor of history, as they return to the roots of the civil rights movement.
Students will expand their understanding of one of the most important social movements of our time as they explore the key sites of the era and interact with significant participants from the civil rights movement. The bus tour will stop in Washington, D.C.; Greensboro, N.C.; Atlanta, Ga.; Montgomery, Ala.; and Birmingham, Ala.
An optional course, Christian Ethics and Social Issues, will meet twice a week beginning in January and will conclude with the bus tour. The course fulfills a religion core complement, an elective for religious and theological studies majors and minor, or a free elective for all other majors.
“1964 marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act, a high note in the long and often painful journey to racial equality that we still travel today,” LoPresti said. “In this class we will learn about the challenges Dr. King and his contemporaries faced in the civil right movement, and then we will visit some of the most important locations where the battle was literally in the streets. It’s a walk through one of the nastier sides of American history, but also one with a some notable triumphs along the way.”
The program fee is $795, which includes ground transportation by chartered bus, accommodations in tourist-class hotels, daily breakfast, two group meals, instructional materials and official excursions and entrance fees.
Click here for the program information sheet.
Applications are available at the Gatehouse or from LoPresti (Marian Hall, Room 202) or Neary (Antone Academic Center, Room 231). Applications are due Dec. 1, with full program payment due Dec. 18.
